Counselor Manual Welcome to the counselor manual! Here you will find step­by­step instructions for every counselor interaction with Coalition Platform technology. Why is the Coalition providing this resource? While the system is highly intuitive, sometimes it is great to have instructions available. This manual is available as an HTML document on the Coalition site (​http://www.coalitionforcollegeaccess.org/cmanual­home.html​) in addition to this downloadable PDF. You can also find companion demonstration videos on the Coalition site at http://www.coalitionforcollegeaccess.org/resources­video.html​. Table of Contents Part 1: Getting Started
Section 1.1: Creating a Counselor Account
Section 1.2: Adding an Organization to Your Account
Section 1.3: Inviting Students onto the Coalition Platform
Section 1.4: Creating an Account Avatar
Section 1.5: Updating Your Account Information
Part 2: Working with Students
Section 2.1: Accepting Student Contact Requests
Section 2.2: Collaborating with Students
(Reviewing Shared Locker Items) Section 2.3: Accepting Counselor Recommendation and
Transcript Requests
Section 2.4: Using the Documents Page and Counselor Recommendation Form 2.4 A: Uploading Transcripts
2.4 B: Starting the Counselor Recommendation Form
2.4 C: Providing Contact Information
2.4 D: Completing the School Report
2.4 E: Completing the Student Assessment
2.4 F: Uploading the Counselor Recommendation Letter
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5 7 10 13 16 19 22 24 25 27 28 29 31 32 PART 1: GETTING STARTED Section 1.1: Creating a Counselor Account This section will demonstrate how to create a counselor account on the Coalition technology platform. 1. Go to mycoalition.org. 2. Click the ​Create Account​ link at the bottom of the page (or select the ​Create Account tab at the top of the page) 3. Fill out the ​Account Email/Username and Password​ portion of the form, first entering an email address and then creating and confirming your password.
1 4. Fill out the ​Personal Information​ portion of the form, entering your first name, last name and date of birth 5. Click ​Create Account 6. You’ll be asked to verify your email address: a. Log in to the email account you used to create your account b. Retrieve the Coalition email 2 c. Follow the verification instructions in the email 7. Once verified, log in to your account to complete the setup. 8. After logging in, you get the choice to select a ​Student ​or ​Support​ account. Select a Support ​account and click the ​Continue​ button. 3 9. A list of support types will open. Select the kind of support you provide and click Continue​. 10. Congratulations! You have successfully created a counselor account on the Coalition’s technology platform. 4 Section 1.2: Adding an Organization to Your Account This section will demonstrate how to add a high school to a counselor account. 1. Log in to your account at mycoalition.org Or, if you are already logged in, go to your account ​Overview 2. The bottom half of the Overview page gives you a list of tasks. Select the​ Add Your Organization​ task to open the ​Organizations ​page. 5 3. Start typing your high school’s name in the ​Organizations ​search box. Options will appear in a drop­down list as you type. 4. Select the correct high school to add it to your account. 6 Section 1.3: Inviting Students onto the Coalition Platform This section will illustrate how to invite students to work with you on the Coalition platform. If there are students you would like to work with via the Coalition Platform, you don’t have to wait for them to set up an account and invite you to be a Coalition mentor. Instead, ​you ​can invite your students onto the Platform and establish a counselor relationship with them. 1. To get started, log in to your account at mycoalition.org Or, if you are already logged in, go to your account ​Overview 2. The bottom half of the Overview page gives you a list of tasks. Select the ​Invite Students​ task 7 3. Click the ​Invite New Contact​ button at the top of the page. 4. The student contact invitation form opens. Enter the student’s email address and select your support role from the list. The roles are pretty standard: high school counselor, registrar, teacher, etc. If your role isn’t listed (like neighbor, pastor, coach) select ​New Relationship​ to specify. 5. Click ​Invite​. The system informs you the invitation was sent. If the student already has an account on the Platform, a simple contact request will be sent. If the student doesn’t have an account, the email will invite the student to create an account and you will be created as a contact as soon as the student does so. 8 6. You will receive a notification when the student accepts your invitation. The student will also appear on your ​My Student Contacts​ list. 9 Section 1.4: Creating Your Account Avatar This section will illustrate how to add an avatar image to your account. (Your avatar will be displayed every time you communicate with a student.) When you first create a Coalition account, you give the system the most basic information: your name, email address, and date of birth. You can add more by editing your account information. The simplest but most visible edit is to add an avatar image to your account. 1. Log in to your account at mycoalition.org Or, if you are already logged in, go to your account ​Overview 2. Click the circle containing your initials in the upper right corner of the screen. 3. Select ​Account Settings ​from the drop­down list. 10 4. In the top task bar you have the option to ​Edit Account Info​ or ​Change Your Photo​. Click the ​Change Your Photo​ button. 5. Click the ​Select an Image File​ button. A window opens to allow you to search your hard drive for your desired image. 6. Double­click your desired image to open it in the photo selection tool. 11 7. To fine­tune the image, place your cursor in the center of the bright selection circle and drag to move the circle onto the area of the image you would like to select as your avatar picture. If the selection circle is too small, place your cursor on the enlargement square on the upper right corner of the circle and drag to the right to make the circle larger. Use the “updated photo” image at the bottom to see the results of your effort. 8. Once you have selected your image, click the ​Save Photo​ button. Your chosen avatar image is added to your account. 12 Section 1.5: Updating Your Account Information In this section, we will tour the Edit Account Info page and add a work address to a counselor account. When you first open a Coalition account, you give the system minimal information: your name, email address, and date of birth. You can add more info like extra email addresses or a work address by editing your account information. 1. Log in to your account at mycoalition.org Or, if you are already logged in, go to your account ​Overview 2. Click your account avatar in the upper right corner of the screen: it’s either a circle with your initials or an actual avatar image. 3. Select ​Account Settings ​from the drop­down list. 13 4. In the top task bar you have the option to ​Edit Account Info​ or ​Change Your Photo​. Click the ​Edit Account Info​ button. 5. On this page you can change or add to your profile information. It opens with an Overview ​of all your information displayed. 6. Use the links in the left navigation to choose your action. a. Personal Info​: select to add or change personal information like name and gender b. Username/Email​: select to change your account email address c. Password​: select to change your password d. Contact Info​: select to edit or add email, phone, and address information e. Preferences​: select to authorize text notifications or to delete your account 14 7. In this exercise we will select ​Contact Info ​to add a work address. As you can see, this page enables you to edit, add, and delete all types of contact information. 8. To add an address, simply select the ​Add Address​ button and fill in the form. Then select the appropriate ​Address Type​ from the drop­down list and click ​Save​. 9. Select ​Go to Coalition Platform​ to return to your account Overview 15 PART 2: WORKING WITH STUDENTS Section 2.1: Accepting Student Contact Requests If your students want to connect with you for feedback and advice prior to submitting an application, they will send you a contact request. The request will come as an email and as a notification on the Coalition platform. In this section, we will illustrate how to accept a contact request from a student. Note that this tutorial covers the contact request for the counselor who already has an account on the Coalition platform. (If you don’t already have an account, the student’s contact request will include an invitation to create an account. See the “Creating an Account” section in the Getting Started portion of this manual for more information.) 1. Log into your account at mycoalition.org. Or if you are already logged in, go to your account ​Overview​. 16 2. Click the notification icon next to your account avatar in the upper right corner of the screen. (When your notifications are brand­new, the icon displays a red dot to alert you.) You will see your notifications. Click the ​New contact request​ from your student to open the ​Contacts ​page. 3. Click the ​Accept​ button to accept the request. (Note that you can also ​Delete ​or Postpone ​the request.) 4. Identify the contact as your student by selecting “Student” in the roles list and click Confirm​. 17 5. The student is added to your list of ​Active Contacts​. 18 Section 2.2: Collaborating with Students (Reviewing Shared Locker Items) Once a student has added you as a counselor contact, the student can share items from their Locker with you in order to seek your feedback. Like a student contact request, you’ll receive notification of a shared item via email and a notification on the Platform. 1. Log into your account at mycoalition.org. Or if you are already logged in, go to your account Overview. 2. Click the notification icon next to your account avatar in the upper right corner of the screen. (When your notifications are brand­new, the icon displays a red dot to alert you.) You will see a drop­down list of your notifications. Click the ​New shared document​ alert from your student to open the Contacts page. (If you have a mix of student and professional contacts on the Coalition platform, it may be more convenient to select the Students ​drop­down, then ​My Students​ to see a list of only your student contacts.) 19 3. Select the ​1 item(s) shared link​ for your student. All of the Locker items this student has shared with you will be available for you to view and give feedback on in the Collaboration Space. 4. Click a shared item to open it. As it opens you can click the sidebar message from your student. (You might want to counsel your students to always give a reason for sharing their Locker items with you.) 20 5. In the lower half of the sidebar, there is a reply box for you to provide feedback. Just type your comments and click ​Send​. 6. The student will receive a notification when you reply. The two of you can continue to collaborate on this item until the student un­shares it. 21 Section 2.3: Accepting Counselor Recommendation and Transcript Requests The process for responding to counselor recommendation and transcript requests is similar to the student contact request process. The requests will arrive by email as well as a notification directly on the Platform. To accept the request: 1. Click the ​View Request​ button in the student’s email. The Coalition platform’s log in/create account screen at mycoalition.org will open in your default browser. 2. Log into your account. (If you don’t yet have a Coalition account, use the ​Create Account​ link to open one and then follow the directions below. See “Section 1.1 Creating an Account” in this manual for more information.) 3. The student email takes you directly to the ​Documents ​page. The ​Documents ​page​ ​lists all of the application document requests­­and their status­­that you have received in the current admissions cycle. It can be sorted ascending or descending by type, status, request date, student name, or student email. You can also use the search box to find the request you are looking for. (​Note​: if you are already working on the Platform, another way to get to the Documents page is to click Documents ​in the top navigation and select ​Home ​from the drop­down list.) 4. Find your student in the list and click a ​Start​ button to begin a counselor recommendation or click an ​Upload ​button to fulfill a transcript request. See “Section 2.4 22 Using the Counselor Recommendation Form and the Documents Page” in this manual for detailed information about completing the Counselor Recommendation Form and uploading transcripts. 23 Section 2.4: Using the Documents Page and Counselor Recommendation Form The ​Documents ​page is your home­base for tracking all of your counselor recommendation, recommendation, and transcript requests. You can access it via the top navigation bar on every page of the Platform. Just select ​Documents ​and then ​Home ​from the drop­down list. The Documents page lists all of the recommendation and transcript requests­­and their status­­that you have received in the current admissions cycle. It can be sorted ascending or descending by type, status, request date, student name, or student email. It also has a search box to help find the request(s) you are looking for. To satisfy counselor recommendation requests, you will use the ​Counselor Recommendation Form​. The form consists of four sections: 24 1. Contact Information​ for adding your professional information 2. School Report​ for uploading or recording school profile and school report information 3. Student Assessment ​for detailing rank, gpa, diploma type and other specific quantitative information about the student. You will also find (optional) sliders for rating student qualities like maturity, confidence, and reactions to setbacks. 4. Documents & Recommendation​ for uploading the counselor recommendation and submitting all of the student’s uploaded documents for inclusion in Coalition applications. The remaining instructions in this section look closely at the document request­fulfilling aspects of the Documents page and the Counselor Recommendation Form. 2.4 A: Uploading Transcripts If a student is submitting an application that requires a transcript, the student will send you a transcript request. To respond to the request: 1. If you have a Coalition account; a. Click the ​View Request​ button in the student’s transcript request email. The button will take you to the Coalition Platform’s login screen at mycoalition.org. Log in to your account. 25 b. Once logged in, you will start at the Documents page. (Alternatively, you can reach the Documents page from the Platform by clicking ​Documents ​in the top navigation bar and selecting ​Home ​from the drop­down list.) 2. If you don’t have a Coalition account, click the ​View Request​ button in the student’s email to take you to the log in/create account screen. Click the ​Create Account​ link to open an account. Once created, follow the directions above. (See “Section 1.1 Creating an Account” in this manual for more information.) 3. Transcript requests appear in the Documents list with an Upload button. Click the Upload ​button to engage the document upload tool. 4. Either drag and drop the transcript file onto the cloud icon or click ​Select File​ to search your hard drive for the file. 5. Once the file is selected/dropped, click ​Add Documents​ to upload the transcript. 6. If you want to double­check the uploaded document, simply click its ​View​ button on the Documents page. 26 2.4 B: Starting the Counselor Recommendation Form 1. If you have a Coalition account; a. Click the ​View Request​ button in the student’s recommendation request email. The button will take you to the Coalition Platform’s login screen at mycoalition.org. Log in to your account. b. Once logged in, you will start at the Documents page (Alternatively, you can reach the Documents page from the Platform by clicking ​Documents ​in the top navigation bar and selecting ​Home ​from the drop­down list.) 2. If you don’t have a Coalition account, click the ​View Request​ button in the student’s email to take you to the log in/create account screen. Click the ​Create Account​ link to open an account and then follow the directions above. (See “Section 1.1 Creating an Account” in this manual for more information.) 3. Counselor recommendation requests appear on the Documents page with a ​Start button. Clicking the ​Start ​button of a counselor recommendation request opens the first section of the Counselor Recommendation Form: the ​Contact Information​ page. 27 2.4 C: Providing Contact Information 1. Counselor recommendation requests appear on the Documents page with a ​Start button. Clicking the ​Start ​button of a counselor recommendation request opens the first section of the Counselor Recommendation Form: the ​Contact Information​ page. 2. Enter your (and your school’s) official contact information including your title, office number and preferred work email. You will only need to fill in this information once. The system will pre­populate it on subsequent recommendations. If you added your high school organization to your account before beginning this form, some of this information will pre­populate. 3. You do not have to complete the form in one session: the system auto­saves during periods of inactivity or when you close the page. If you need to return later to complete a form, you would find it on the Documents page list and select its ​Continue ​button to resume. 4. When you finish click ​Save​ (or let the system auto­save). 5. Click the ​School Report​ button at the bottom of the page if you would like to continue on with the School Report. Or you can select one of the other sections of the form using the left­sidebar navigation. 28 2.4 D: Completing the School Report On the School Report portion of the form, you can upload your school’s profile (not required), upload a school report or fill out the school report form by hand. If you choose to fill out the form, you will only need to do it once. To upload a school profile (optional)​: 1. Click the ​Upload ​button to open the document upload tool. 2. Drag and drop your school’s profile onto the cloud icon or click the ​Select File​ button to find the file on your hard drive. Note that file uploads are restricted to 50MB. 3. Click the ​Add Documents​ button to upload the profile. 29 To upload a school report form​: If your school has an official school report­­like a NACAC school report form­­you can upload it here. 1. Click the checkbox. A document upload button will appear. 2. Click the ​Upload ​button to open the document upload tool. 3. Drag and drop your school report form onto the cloud icon or click the ​Select File​ button to find the file on your hard drive. Note that file uploads are restricted to 50MB. 4. Click the ​Add Documents​ button to upload the school report. If you decide to complete the school report form by hand​: 1. You will note that the form allows for a lot of variance in high school systems. Answer the questions in the way that best fits your school. 2. If your school has an official document that further explains how admissions counselors should assess the performance of your students­­like an IB curriculum statement­­you can upload it here. a. Click the ​Upload​ button to open the document upload tool b. Drag and drop your school’s assessment guide onto the cloud icon or click the Select File​ button to find the file on your hard drive. Note that file uploads are restricted to 50MB. c. Click the ​Add Documents​ button to upload the assessment guide. 30 2.4 E: Completing the Student Assessment The student assessment section contains student specific questions including optional ratings sliders for your impressions of a student’s academic and personal qualities. You will be able to upload a letter on the student’s behalf on the next page of the form. 31 2.4 F: Uploading the Counselor Recommendation Letter The ​Documents & Recommendations​ section is where you upload your counselor recommendation. If you are brand­new to this process, the instructions on this page give you great guidelines for generating a strong recommendation letter. (​Note:​ you can also indicate your inability to write on the student’s behalf.) When you are ready to upload your letter: 1. Click the ​Upload​ button to open the document upload tool 2. Drag and drop your recommendation onto the cloud icon or click the ​Select File​ button to find the file on your hard drive. Note that file uploads are restricted to 50MB. 3. Click the ​Add Documents​ button to upload the counselor recommendation. After uploading the recommendation letter and the other official documents the student requested, you need to complete the submission process. 32 Simply click the ​Submit​ button to make all of the documents available for inclusion with a student’s application. ​Note​: the student will ​not​ be able to view any of these documents. 33